13.2A - Preliminary Theme Overview
Experiencing Stanislavsky Today – Website Worksheet #1 13.2A Worksheet - Preliminary Theme Overview (SDF)
1. What is the topic of the play? Can you describe the subject of the play in one word or a short phrase?
2. What is the playwright's point of view on this subject? This is the theme of the play.
3. What is the author’s supertask (overarching impression to leave on reader/audience)?
4. As an actor, what might be your super-supertask – your reason for doing this play? What do you hope to contribute to your audience and/or the greater community?
5. Are there minor and major themes? Do some of them repeat throughout building and reframing with each glimpse?
© Stephanie Daventry French and Philip G. Bennett 2015
Experiencing Stanislavsky Today – Website Worksheet #1 6. Whose story is this play?
7. How is your character important to the unfolding of the theme and supertask? What dramatic device (or plot device) does your character fulfill such (eg: protagonist/hero, antagonist/villain, carries the subplot, expresses a parallel plot/theme, romantic interest, comic relief, bumbling messenger…)
8. What dramatic question focuses the action and keeps the reader/watcher in suspense? It should be a question that carries you through the whole play and is not answered under the final climax or resolution.
© Stephanie Daventry French and Philip G. Bennett 2015
1. What is the topic of the play? Can you describe the subject of the play in one word or a short phrase?
2. What is the playwright's point of view on this subject? This is the theme of the play.
3. What is the author’s supertask (overarching impression to leave on reader/audience)?
4. As an actor, what might be your super-supertask – your reason for doing this play? What do you hope to contribute to your audience and/or the greater community?
5. Are there minor and major themes? Do some of them repeat throughout building and reframing with each glimpse?
© Stephanie Daventry French and Philip G. Bennett 2015
Experiencing Stanislavsky Today – Website Worksheet #1 6. Whose story is this play?
7. How is your character important to the unfolding of the theme and supertask? What dramatic device (or plot device) does your character fulfill such (eg: protagonist/hero, antagonist/villain, carries the subplot, expresses a parallel plot/theme, romantic interest, comic relief, bumbling messenger…)
8. What dramatic question focuses the action and keeps the reader/watcher in suspense? It should be a question that carries you through the whole play and is not answered under the final climax or resolution.
© Stephanie Daventry French and Philip G. Bennett 2015
